The New Age
by Icestar of moonclan
Summary: The Ponies of Equestria face a challenge they can't overcome, followed by the appearance of a strange filly and an incredibke change. Can the mane six get over their differences to save the day? Or will the ponies closest to them be lost forever?


New Age Peace in Equestria has reigned for many moons. But that is soon to change... The zebra kingdom has risen up against Equestria, claiming that ponies run the world, and that needs to change. And so, they say, the sun must set on ponies, and rise on zebras. The elements of harmony were called upon, but there was no hate, black magic, or anything else for them to remove. Only determination, which is part of harmony, thus harmony can not remove it. As the war raged, Equestria slowly dwindled, until now when it is only the princesses and Twilight left in Equestria. Every other pony has been transported to a new world, a world with out any intelligent species. They are cornered by multitudes of zebras, backed against an abandoned store. The princesses were just out of sight, as Twilight Sparkle blasted the endless sea of zebras with her magic. Dropping balls of explosive magic, magic laser, all the spells you can think of. Twilight saw the spells of the Alicorn sisters, in sunlight yellow and night sky blue. Suddenly, a great pulse of pure, yellow magic exploded, followed by a scream. Zebras toppled, left and right, thousands destroyed by a single spell. Why hadn't Celestia done it sooner? While the ponies where still here? Twilight flew over to the princesses full speed, (She had finally mastered flight), only to see Luna was bent over her sister, tears falling to the ground. Celestia was dead... Wait, no, Twilight could still feel the magic that was always around the sun princess, but only faintly. As she crept closer Celestia, the natural alicorn opened her eyes, and said, in barely a whisper, "Twilight..." the purple princess walked closer, eyes brimming with tears. "We... We have a gift..." Luna leaned closer to her sister. "Hush Tia, I will tell her," turning to Twilight Sparkle, the night princess continued, "We have kept half of a spell with each of us, to cast and give you when you leave, or when the time runs short for one of us. It will guide you through the time that you must rule the ponies. Celestia has overtaxed her magic, and was hoping to survive, but it seems she will not, but it is the only way to deliver this before you, and inevitably we, where overwhelmed. Raise her well, for in her is our spirits, as well as the very spirits of magic. Should she be a foe, or if she turns out to be selfish, the elements of harmony can do nothing against her, as she embodies them as well." with that small speech, Luna lowered her head to support Celestia, and together they cast a spell, their horns lighting and their magic mixing to create a green globe that glowed. It spun, before exploding in a blinding flash of light, leaving a small white alicorn filly with a black, star speckled flowing mane, and strangely, a cutie mark, a circle, with line through the middle and two larger circles radiating out from that line, on either side. One side the half circle was yellow, the large circle blue with a small cloud. The opposite side had a silver half circle, and a dark blue large circle with small white dots. Celestia's magic blinked out, and the sun princess's breathing stopped. Luna stood, her wings folded, head down, she sighed. "Me and Tia are a pair. With Tia dead, I can not function. I will prepare you to be the only ruler of the new Equestria, with Cadance long dead. If, by any small chance, I survive, I will stay here and fight to avenge Tia, and win back our home." Luna's horn lit up, and she poured masses of magic into Twilight, as the purple princess began to grow, taking in Celestia's size, and she felt her magic growing, until she finally processed it all. She, and the mysterious filly, where going to be the only alicorns in the new Equestria. Upon the spell being completed, she realized that in appearance and power, she was Celestia, with different colors. Luna carefully lifted Celestia's crown, necklace, and shoes, placed them on Twilight Sparkle, princess of the sun, the moon, and harmony. "The filly is named Stella Solara. She will take your place when you are dead, or retired. Train her well. You now have the power to raise the moon and sun. I ask you to practice by lowering the zebra's sun, and let them find a way to raise it again." Luna said the last bit with anger. Twilight did so, focusing on the sun, high in the sky, with all of her magic, and strained to lower the sun. It shot down, faster then the eye could follow. Somewhere in the pitch black, Luna's voice sounded. "No need to strain. You have as much power as Celestia now. Gently lower it, like you would a teacup. And teacups... Treat them like the most delicate feather on earth." Luna lowered her head, and cast a teleport spell. The same one she and Celestia had cast to send the ponies to new Equestria. "Remember your responsibility..." was the last time Twilight ever heard Luna's voice. 1 year later Twilight sat on her throne, gold, set with a purple gems. Stella sat next to her. the young filly, was now around two, according to Twilight's guess, and could talk fairly well. Stella's magic and flying ability was through the roof for her age, and someone five times her age would struggle to restrain her. True to Luna's word, the white alicorn filly also seemed to have a magical link to the elements of harmony. The first time she saw them, all the element bearers where teleported, very confused (and in Rainbow's case, fast asleep), to the the elements. Ponies where quickly spreading throughout the new equestria, but there where many places that had been left unexplored. Twilight Sparkle had been settling well into her new duties, and was thankful for one thing, the alicorn sisters had managed to teleport all of Canterlot to the new world, now named Celunia, a mixture of the names of the two ponies who made survival possible. If growth continued at this pace, in two years time, Celunia would be as much home as Equestria ever was. No one had seen hoof nor mane of Luna since that last day in Equestria. She was assumed dead, and may she rest in peace. Stella looked up at Twilight. "Practice 'evidation?" she asked Twilight, jerking her to the present. "Levitation, Stella, Levitation. And that is a great idea. But we should try something harder then strait up, strait down. And since it is lunch time anyway, you should try eating with your magic." Twilight said kindly. Not only was the filly incredibly powerful, she had amazing coordination and picked things up very fast for her age, not to mention self control. "Yay!" was the little filly's only response, as she fluttered her wings, flying a couple of feet, dropping down, and up again. Twilight encouraged this, as not only did it keep Stella entertained, she could fly a little farther every day. Twilight, despite being the sole ruler of Celunia, hadn't changed much. She was more serious, but she was serious to begin with. When they got to the kitchens, They were served food. Twilight carefully levitated a cup of coffee, took a sip, and levitated her fork, cut a bit of pancake, and daintily took a bit. Stella attempted to get her orange juice to her lips, but ended up accidentally dumping half of it over her head, successfully got a bit of pancake, but cracked the plate. She managed to get it in her mouth on the third try, after missing her face, and then stabibg herself in the nose. Twilight removed all knives from the table. The rest of the meal continued roughly in this fashion. ~~~ At bedtime, Twilight tucked the filly into bed, and ask the same question she asked every night. Stella, as usual, replied enthusiastically. "Yes, please!" Twilight smiled. "Which do you want to hear?" The young princess paused, to think. "How about the story of how you friends became princesses? How about Rarity's story first?" "Of course." and Twilight launched into a tale. ~~~ Rarity read the letter that her purple alicorn friend had brought to her, from Princess Celestia. Dear Rarity, It is my pleasure to request your presence at the C.W.H.P (Charity for Widowed or Homeless Ponies) to put your admirable skills in fashion to work clothing those out of bits, home, and family, due to this war between our nation and that of the zebras. If you accept my invitation, all of the ponies donating and running the Charity will be very grateful for the help. Sincerely, Princess Celestia P.S. as they say, laughter and singing will see us through. The fashion obsessed mare thought about the offer. On the upside, she would help a lot of ponies scrape by with her sewing, but what of mane stylists and proper hoof care was hard to cone by in such a place? Rarity brushed the thought aside, what did one pony's mane and hooves matter compared to other pony's well being, after all? "I will go." she told Twilight, who was at the door. ~~~ "Twilight?" said Stella, following a mother daughter tradition. "Yes, dear?" the alicorn responded, with a faint smile. "Why did she care less about her mane then about those ponies?" "Because she is the Element of Generosity, dear." ~~~ On the train to the CWHP, Rarity was nearly frantic. "What if I forgot my mane curlers? Where is that necklace!? Have you seen my sapphire tail clip?!" where the kind of questions the pony sitting with her was rained with. When they finally pulled into the station, she stepped out, into the greyest, filthiest town she had ever seen, filled with ragged, dirty homeless ponies, and depressed looking, shabby mares. A young, dirty pegasus filly, dark grey, with a grey blue mane, darted up to the fashion loving unicorn. "please ma'am, my mommy and daddy were soldiers, dead in the war. Could you spare a bit or two, please?" said the filly, crouching at Rarity's hooves. "Oh, darling..." said the mare, "Come with me, we simply must get you bathed and fed." she said. When they arrived at the rooms in the CWHP building that Rarity was staying in, she rushed the filly into the bathroom and handed her a towel. "Now take a long, hot shower, uh, what is your name dear?" "Sky Bolt." said the young pegasus shyly. "Well, go get bathed, Sky Bolt, and I should have dinner done when you are out." And so, with Rarity chopping away at carrots and daisies to make a favorite soup of hers, and Sky Bolt cleaning away six months of dirt, the place was warm and welcoming. When Sky Bolt got out of her shower, Rarity was amazed. What she had first taken as a grey coat was really a soft, pure white, and grey blue mane had transformed into a light cerulean cloud, because the filly's mane was so fine, it floated up on even the tiniest breeze, the same true of her tail. The two ate together, talking about past, present and future alike. When the pegasus filly got up to leave, Rarity said, "Would you like to live here? I can keep you feed and warm, at the very least. Your expenses would be paid by Celestia herself if I asked her, and you are to good to be living on the streets." Sky Bolt stopped, and sat back down at the table. "Really?" she asked. And Rarity, through caring for that filly, strengthened her generosity, and earned her rank as princess of generosity, turning her into the pony she is today. ~~~ Twilight finished her story, and brushed her muzzle against Stella's head. "Goodnight." She said, and left the room. When they finally arrived at the Night Station, Rarity greeted them, a pure white pegasus mare with a light cerulean mane, and two clouds, with a lightning bolt the shade of the mare's mane shooting between them for a cutie mark. Rarity and Sky Bolt looked so alike, it was almost impressive they weren't related by blood. "We can get you a good room, Stella, dear, come along." She moved away, and Sky Bolt fell back to talk and laugh with Wild Vine. Stella stayed ahead with Rarity, and soon Applejack showed up, wing feathers rustling in the wind, Stella remembered her story. Applejack was always honest. And honestly thought that what happened was her fault, even though it wasn't. Apple Bloom, the first victim of the zebra war. It had started out a simple fight, Apple Bloom had just left one of her older sister's books out in the rain. When Applejack began getting angry, Apple Bloom had run out the door, and five hours later, when the sun was setting, AJ had gone out to search and apologize. When she found her sister, deep in the Everfree, she was dead, killed by some pony with a sword, and it was then that they Jumped Applejack, the zebra's left a deep gash down one of her flanks. The only reason she lived was Zecora found her, healed her, and explained the treachery of her fellow zebras with shame, and assurances that she had lived most her life around ponies and would side with them in the upcoming battle. The whole incident left her with a large, cordlike scar on her flank, and hate for zebras, excepting Zecora. She went home, loaded down with her sister's body, and a confession to her family, who hadn't known about the fight. Sux months later, Applejack had adopted a young orphaned unicorn named Amethyst Shine, a purple filly so dark she was almost black, and a light purple mane so light it was almost white. Applejack received her princess wings and horn for the courage and honesty shown when she admitted she had a hand in the death of Apple Bloom. The scar on Applejack's flank remained, and showed clearly. A deep purple unicorn stood next to her, with a faceted amethyst for a cutie mark. Amethyst Shine fell back with the other two ponies, to join in the conversation. The three were obviously good friends. Made sense, they did have a lot in common. When Rarity and Applejack showed her a map of the Night Fire forest, and where the magical happenings had happened, she noticed they seemed to be most dense far into the forest. "I can go in, but i need help, and skilled pony of every species. Some pony I can trust." Applejack nodded. "Girls, can y'all go into the Night Fire with Princess Stella here? And Amethyst, can you enchant a few jewels as magical, and physical shields?" Amethyst Shine smiled. "Of course, it is my talent after all." She said, with a laugh. Applejack quicklu spoke again. "And you other two, stretch. You will need all your muscles." "Yes, Applejack." The two other ponies chorused, and everyone trotted off to deal with their own tasks. Before the hour has gone, and it was barely 1:00 in the after noon, Princess Stella Solara stood in front of the intimidating forest, with her backup, Soldier Shine, Soldier Bolt, and Soldier Vine at her back, as well as a magical shielding necklace that Amethyst Shine had made, around her neck. "Be safe." Said Rarity, and Applejack nodded in agreement. Stella took her first step into the dark forest, and a sense fear washed over her. Enchanting, pure, heart stopping terror. She stepped forward again, and gulped, barely prepared for the task ahead. Stella forced her hoof to move forward. "We don't have any charms to ward it off, but is definitely a magic induced fear." Said Soldier Bolt from beside Princess Stella, in a shaky voice. "Why?!" Replied Stella, louder than she intended, as she attempted to force down the sheer terror. Soldier Vine was looking on the verge of racing back, a half hour of travel, to the safety of camp. If Stella let fear take over, she would fail to lead this group. She was the Princess, the Commander, the Leader. Remove her, the house of cards, the courage of these ponies would have no foundation, and tumble. "Soldier Vine, control yourself." She said, hoping she sounded much calmer than she was. Shine took a deep breath, and responded before Soldier Bolt could. "Actually, we do. If it weren't for the charms I gave out, our hearts would have stopped from sheer terror the second we stepped into the trees." The nervousness she would have normally felt over her life hanging, literally, on a thin silver chain, was boosted into sheer terror by the forest's enchantment. "So, we die if the charms come off, break, or become overwhelmed by the forest?" Stella said, her deep blue mane quivering, along with her pure white coat. Soldier Shine nodded. "Yes, your highness." She said grimly. The alicorn laughed grimly. "If my life is hanging on your skill, you can drop the formality. All of you." Sky Bolt nodded, her light cerulean half way curled mane bobbing along with her pure white coated face. "Yes, your hi– uh, Stella." The unicorn and earth pony laughed, though not unkindly, at their friend, who turned bright red. The young princess smiled. "No need to be embarrassed, Sky Bolt." She said kindly. The terror began to subside as the three ponies went from awkward, respectful, cold silence, and to the warm silence of friends with nothing. Stella was amazed how fast they accepted her. But then again, she had plenty in common. They all had mothers who carried one of the elements of harmony. And what could bind four ponies better then mothers who are held together by a thick cord of hardship and love? Stella jumped as a loud crack of a branch breaking sounded beside her. Blue magic flared, but it didn't come from any of the ponies she could see. "Get down." She hissed at her companions, putting up a force field in a dome around herself and her three companions. A ragged and bloody blue alicorn limped out of the undergrowth. Seeing the well protected group of ponies, she dropped the knife she was carrying in her blue magic. "Who are you?" Stella said, even though she had a guess. The new alicorn's cutie mark... Twilight had described the same white moon on the patchy black background. The blue alicorn looked hurt. "Don't you know?" She said. "Have I really been forgotten?" "You aren't who I think you are. Luna died! She must have! All I have heard are my mother's stories, but she can't have survived." Stella Lucara said, with very little certainty. "Stella, you know who I am. I need to see Twilight and the other bearers of the elements, now. Where is the castle?" "Go back where you came from! You can't be real!" Stella shouted at Princess Luna, who nodded. "If that is what you think, you can take me in chains." Stella nodded, and used a nearby vine to bind the alicorn's hooves together. "If you hurt anypony, I will find you, and hurt you." She said calmly, but the glint in her eyes gave away how full this threat was. After several seconds of eye contact with supposedly fake Luna, she cast a yellow and silver, the color of her magic, teleportation spell to send the new alicorn to the center of the throne room. Twilight jumped as a flash of yellow and silver light filled the throne room. "Stella?" She said, half to herself, before the magical light subsided, leaving... "Princess Luna?" Twilight Sparkle gasped, eyes wide. The blue alicorn lay, all four legs bound together, on the floor. A gash on her right foreleg seeped blood, and scars wound over her flanks and the back of her neck. Weak, injured, but alive. Suddenly, a voice projected over the throne room. "Mother, any joy you may feel at this pony's arrival had best be over ridden by caution. You know how slim the chances are that Luna survived. She was found in the Night Fire. She may well be fake. Please place her under a strong guard." Stella ended her little voice transporting spell, and turned back to her new found friends. "Girls, we must continue. Proceed with caution." The three ponies nodded. Suddenly, a flash of blood red light blinded them all, and hateful laughter sounded high overhead. Stella tried to throw up a magical barrier, as a black alicorn with a red flowing mane and red droplets for a cutie mark appeared. A surge of flame colored magic slammed into her chest just as it went up, blowing her backward and knocking the air out of her. Stella Lucara's friends huddled under the shield, that Stella had disconnected from her horn. The black alicorn raised her head, laughing loudly as she approached the young princess. "Who dares trespass on our forest, you scum?" She said, in the royal Canterlot voice. (Watch the Nightmare Night episode) Stella rose to her hooves, shakily. "I am Princess Stella Lucara. You will stop this nonsense. Now." She said, eye to eye with the alicorn. "What do you think you can do against us, Princess?" The alicorn said, as her horn began to glow. Stella mustered her own magic. When the beam of flame red magic shot at her, she released her golden and silver magic, the colors twisting around each other. She poured magic into it, but the red began to creep down the line. After several minutes, while her friends huddled under their dome, the red magic surged, and knocked Stella back. When to white alicorn tried to cast a spell to slam the black alicorn, a piercing pain rippled through her skull. As she blacked out, the last thing she heard was this, "Another victory for Blood Splatter! Now for these three..." Sky Bolt leapt to her hooves, just as Blood Splatter neared the dome. A red bolt hit the silver and gold shield, shattering it. Sky flapped furiously toward the alicorn. "How dare you!" She yelled, but a tug on her tail made her look back to Amethyst Shine, who had her tail trapped in a magical halo. "Be careful." The purple unicorn warned, and threw the pegasus away from an oncoming bolt of red magic. The black alicorn laughed menacingly, and advanced on the three mares, "You think you can defeat us?" Wild Vine shouted, but Blood Splatter only laughed. "We have defeated the most powerful being in Celunia, and three normal ponies attempt to stand against us?" The alicorn boomed. Sky Bolt took a deep breath. "But we have each other to rely on." She threw back, and Amethyst added on to her statement. "You have given us the drive to defeat us, by killing Stella." "And with those things, we can do anything." Wild Vine finished. "Oh yes, success comes from those things." Blood Splatter sneered sarcastically. "Now why don't you good little friends go back were you came from, and leave us to finish of her highness?" The three mares stayed put, and Sky saw a blinding flash of red light, then dark. Stella Lucara cracked open an eye, just in time to see Blood Splatter use one big beam of red light to knock out her three friends. For a second she was unsure how she knew these ponies, but it all came crashing back. The white alicorn staggered to her hooves, and began casting a huge beam of magic, the silver and gold swirling around each other on her horn. Blood Splatter turned around, with a big grin on her face, before seeing Stella. She stopped in her tracks, and a look of confusion crossed her face, before she settled into a patronizing look. "Oh, you're up. You feeling any better, honey?" The black alicorn taunted. Stella released the magic, staying conscious just long enough to witness her magic slam into the other alicorn. And hours lengthened to days... And days to weeks.. Twilight paced nervously in the throne room, with Applejack curled up in a corner, the usually strong mare sobbing. Pinkie Pie was sitting next to her, trying to comfort her. Pinkie Pie, the one pony who was still almost exactly like Ponyville days. Giggle at the Ghosties, now that was a joke. Oh, poor Pinkie. Pinkie Pie bounced along in her uniform, Rainbow on one side, Twilight on the other. Around them were thousands of other ponies in armor. As was always true of earth ponies, Pinkie carried a big sword, and had heavy armor, to contrast Rainbow with her archery supplies, light armor, and a dirk. Even more different from those two was Twilight, who had only a magical protective robe that no pony could ever slice through, created by Celestia herself. The purple alicorn was the ultimate spell caster, the best in the Equestrian Army, and therefor well protected. Pinkie Pie bounced along, singing Smile, Smile, Smile under her breath, while ponies around them rolled their eyes and covered their ears. Many thought Pinkie was insane, and it could well have been true. Twilight often looked back on Pinkie's first battle, how she had just laughed as the zebras charged, and kept on giggling as they neared, as confusion and terror seemed to cross her face. Suddenly, she stopped and shouted out loud, "Giggle at the ghosties! You are just another type of ghost, but if you won't go away, you'll go away for my sword!" Rainbow, flapping up above the fight, turning to the purple alicorn next to her. "Odd outburst from Pinkie, huh?" Twilight was lighting her horn, and "Yeah, I guess." Was her distracted response before a blast surged down toward Pinkie from her horn. When it subsided, Pinkie let out a terrified scream from inside her purple shield bubble, in the middle of a circle of charred, twitching bodies. Later, much later, the wings and horn had been a medal for keeping the moral up, and fighting so well. Rainbow didn't even seem to know what to do with herself, and Rarity was sitting in the middle of the floor, muttering. Twilight sighed. "Okay everypony. I know perfectly well what you are going through. The best way to help them is to keep calm and keep Celunia running. I have a great deal of confidence that Stella can take care of herself, and I trust Amethyst Shine, Wild Vine, and Sky Bolt can do the same." The second she was done, all five other alicorns started yelling. A hubbub of buts, ifs, and maybes. "Enough!" The high princess shouted. "We will organize a search party and we will remain calm." Dumbstruck, Rainbow and Applejack just kept still, while Rarity and Fluttershy just nodded. Pinkie bounced. "And they will all be just fine!" She squealed. Twilight nodded. "If we can't work together even to find some of our closest loved ones, then this friendship can't exist anymore. We can be work partners, but if we can't get this done, we can't be anything more. Am I understood?" They all nodded dumbly, still digesting this. "Dash, Applejack, organize a search party. Rarity and Fluttershy, make sure there are doctors on hand if they come back injured. Pinkie, get charms for a ten pony search party into the Night Fire. I will oversee everything in general." Two days later... Four pegasi, four unicorns, and two earth ponies trotted out of the forest, toward the six princesses. Stella was slung across six of their backs, while her three companions limped out on their own power. Each pony ran to their own daughter, leaving Pinkie and Fluttershy alone. Fluttershy hadn't been very affected by the war, not really. She was one of the first ponies in Celunia, and everypony sent their pets for her to keep safe. Her horn had been a reward for the patience and kindness she gave the endless stream of pets. The endless deaths had drawn her even farther into her antisocial shell, but overall, her and Pinkie were the closest to unscathed. The six friends had been drawn together, and so had their daughters. Everything was going to work. Luna was here to help, and everything was going to work. Twilight could stop maintaining the night, and everything would work. The children were back, so everything was going to work. 


End file.
